


A Home For Christmas

by HauntedOne



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Whump, Gavin Reed Being Less of an Asshole, Hank is basically Connor's dad, Merry Christmas, Whump, everyone is drunk, here's some, im not sorry, my first one-shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:00:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28316400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HauntedOne/pseuds/HauntedOne
Summary: In which Connor can't hang an ornament, he swears a lot because he can't hang an ornament, half the precinct (including a character I found in the game gallery who is unnamed that I added because she was pretty) all go to Hank's house for a Christmas party. There are mild whump and some suicidal themes, not to mention briefly homeless Connor. There's a lot of humor despite the sad stuff, and Connor finally feels like he belongs, thanks to his little family at the DPD who decide to teach Connor about Chritmas.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 32





	A Home For Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Its 10am and Christmas and I haven't lept or proofread this, I'm relying solely on Grammarly to make this make sense.

Home for the Holidays

It's been 44 days since the androids peacefully gained their freedom. Well, some more peacefully than others. Connor had been laying low as long as he could before officers managed to find him at New Jericho. He was admittedly embarrassed when they brought him a few days earlier in handcuffs. Hank was out of his desk in a matter of seconds, ready to lunge on the officers who had brought Connor in a little less than gently. They had arrested him to get his statement of what happened to Gavin in the evidence lock-up, but when they pat him down, they found a gun hidden under his jeans and leather coat that not only didn't belong to him, but he wasn't legally allowed to carry yet. Because android justice laws were to be passed only a couple of days later, he was kept in a holding cell.

Gavin came to visit him and mock him every chance he got, and Hank would always come by on his break, or whenever he heard Gavin's loud insults. Sometimes he'd walk over in time to hear Connor retaliate with words he didn't know the deviant knew but assumed he learned from Hank himself. Most other officers kept to themselves, not really knowing Connor that well, or not really fully understanding or trusting deviants yet. A couple of times Officer Mitchell Wilson stopped by, the man Connor had saved on the roof during his first mission. Once Officer Chris Miller spent his whole lunch break sitting on the floor outside the cell, talking to Connor who sat on the floor facing Chris through the glass. Chris seemed to genuinely respect Connor as a person, and wanted to know more about his kind. He knew they were alive the moment Markus spared him in the streets, and he had never once mistreated Connor. Connor appreciated his openness.

Now, three days after being arrested, and 44 days since the revolution, every android who had been held in cells awaiting the justice laws to pass, were being released all over the city. Connor knew his case was being processed and he lingered by the glass wall of the cell. He watched what appeared to be a Christmas party of some sort, at least that what he assumed since it was December 24th. He had to download information on the holiday himself, as the more detailed information hadn't been deemed important for a prototype investigator/negotiator who was going to be replaced in a matter of months. He gathered that the holiday was to celebrate a Christian deity, hence the name of the holiday containing the name of said deity. He downloaded additional information on the decorations, learning that the tree and color red both were related to a deity, as well as candles which he didn't see anywhere. He soon gathered that the candles were replaced by the Christmas lights over time. He found the thought of using red to symbolize the blood of your God was an odd concept, but he didn't question it. He also didn't understand why they all celebrated it when only maybe two of the officers actually considered themselves to be followers of the religion. He was tempted to ask, thinking that maybe the meaning or symbolism of the holiday had changed over time, but he didn't bother. Instead, he just watched them consume way too many calories and talk about how they were starting the next year off with a diet or a gym membership.

Humans were very complex creatures.

He sighed and started to walk away from the door. Before he got back to the bed, Chris was opening the door. "Connor? You're free to go."

"I am? Already?" he asked.

"Yep, we worked on your case for a few days, we just needed to wait for the laws to pass. Androids all over the city are getting out just in time for the holidays." said Chris with a nod.

Connor nodded and thanked him as he stepped out of the cell.

"So, any plans now that you're out?" asked Chris.

Connor thought for a moment. "I'm not sure, what do people normally do?" he asked with genuine curiosity. "Most androids have already had multiple Christmas's, but I'm only a few months old, I'm quite sure what Christmas is." he admitted.

Chris was walking Connor into the bullpen, ready to explain the holiday and other winter holidays, but was stopped before he could start. "Well well well, look who's finally free- again." said Hank.

Connor gave him a small smile. "Hello, Lieutenant." said Connor as Hank gave him a pat on the back.

.

"Alright kid, why don't you head home and be lazy, that's how I spend the holidays, and it's definitely how I'd spend it after getting out of jail." said Hank. "I'd take you there but I got the late shift tonight, I'm not off for a couple of hours."

Connor looked to Hank with slight confusion. "Home- oh, right." said Connor quickly recovering. "Right, home. I- I should go there." he looked flustered and idly adjusted his jacket.

"Connor, you do _have_ a home, don't you?" asked Hank.

Connor looked like a deer in headlights. "Of course. Have a good Christmas, Lieutenant." he lied before nodding to Chris and then nearly running out the door.

Connor was immediately met with a snowstorm but trudged on anyway. He had silently decided that Detroit had to be the best place to spend the Holidays. He had no idea what anything outside of the City looked like, be he knew that nothing could possibly be more beautiful than the lights and decorations that decorated the city. There was an absolutely massive tree, more than 60 feet tall, in the middle of a park. People gathered around to look at, both human and deviant. Something about the way they all just came together to admire something so spectacular- in a snowstorm of all things- was amazing to Connor. Connor had planned on going to the bridge where Hank had once pulled a gun on him, just to enjoy the scenery of Ontario across the river, but he decided to just wait here a little while longer. Campus Martius Park- he decided to keep the location archived in his mind. He decided that next year- if he was still alive, of course, he could come to watch the tree lighting. Yes, that would be nice. Something to look forward to, finally. It felt good to have a reason, even one so small, to keep going another year. He couldn't help but wonder though, did he deserve that? After what happened to Emma? She didn't get to see the tree lighting this year, she didn't get to see it ever again, and now her mother was all alone in the house where Daniel jumped off the terrace with her daughter, the house where her husband was killed by his own gun in another's hand. What about the guards at CyberLife? They had just been doing their jobs. What about Carlos's android? He didn't even get a name. What about the people he hadn't killed, but almost did? What about the AX400 and the little girl? What about that brief moment where he held a gun to Markus and the moment after that on the stage? For some reason, none of his sins seemed as great as the first, although he knew everyone was important, not just her. But he could remember her fall so very vividly.

Something about the way the Christmas tree lights blurred with his tears reminded him of the first responders 70 floors below him when he rushed to the edge of the building only to reach the child too late. He took in a shaky breath and stared at the tree as if it could give him some sort of solace.

"I'm so sorry, Emma Phillips." he whispered as tears streamed silently down his face.

"Who's Emma?" asked Hank's gruff voice from behind him. Connor didn't even bother to look at him, let alone ask how he found him or why he was there. He just kept his gaze fixated on the tree.

"The little girl I couldn't save." he said in a voice barely above a pained whisper. "She was 10." he let out a small pained chuckle as if he were somehow amused by the fact that he was actually feeling, or perhaps he was losing his mind, he didn't know. "The last thing she did was beg me to save her." he said, opening up for the first time. He paused for a moment before shaking his head lightly, eyes still on the tree. "Sometimes I swear I can still hear her screaming," his tears fell faster now. "and God help me, I don't know how to make it _stop._ " Connor finally shifted his gaze over to Hank and stared at him as if he may hold all the answers.

Hank didn't know androids could cry, but seeing Connor like that broke his heart. He just pulled Connor into a hug, wrapping him up tightly. The snow was coming down harder now, and people were starting to leave, but Connor just cried a little harder while his friend held on to him. "I- I'm s-s-sorry." he choked out. Hank put his hands on Connor's shoulders and pulled him back a little to look him in the eyes. "Hey, you have nothing to apologize for." he said firmly. "You think you're the first cop I've seen have a mental breakdown? I'm old, I've seen dozens, I've _had_ dozens." he said. Connor huffed a laugh and wiped his face off with his hand, only to notice it was turning bear white as his fake skin tried to escape the cold.

"You shouldn't have to deal with my shit, Lieutenant." said Connor, getting his point across quite well with a word Hank hadn't heard him say before and a broken tone in his voice. Hank just let out a worried sighed. "Yes, I do. You know why? You're my friend and my partner, and that makes us family. It's you shouldn't have to deal with your shit, not alone." said Hank in a surprisingly kind voice. Hank caught a glimpse of Connor's nose and decided, although impossible that what he thought may be happening could happen, he glanced to Connor's hands. Connor had his arms wrapped around himself but one of his hands were still noticeable. Hank grabbed his wrist with no warning and pulled it towards himself so he could double-check what he was seeing. The hand was bare white plastic and an alarming soft red glow was pulsing in and out.

"Connor, what's happening here? I thought you glowed blue?" said Hank, moderately concerned that the plastic was even visible, to begin with. Connor gently released himself from Hank's grip to inspect his own hand, only to see that the other was also glowing. He tried to run a self-diagnostic but was only met with an error message due to his low power. Connor looked around for a more secluded place, eventually spotting a more deserted area behind a row of porta-potties. He made his way over to it without saying anything, only to find that Hank was following him. Connor kept his back to Hank and lifted the front of his shirt to reveal his chest, removing the skin and trying to ignore the freezing cold air that he was, unfortunately, able to feel thanks to his model.

Just as he feared, there was a red glow emitting from his chest, beating with his heart. "Shit." he said, only causing further concern from Hank, as that was the second time Connor had swore in the last few minutes. "What?" asked Hank, not enjoying being left in the dark. Connor sighed and turned around so Hank could see the glow that was coming from the other side of his plastic chest. He pulled his shirt back down and wrapped his arms around himself again. "The hell does that mean?" asked Hank. "I've been in the cold too long. A red glow means you've been critically damaged, usually. In my case, I've spent too many nights outdoors. The snowstorm doesn't seem to be helping." said Connor. Hank didn't even say anything before grabbing Connor by the arm and dragging him to the Oldsmobile. He forced him inside and then got in the driver's seat. "Connor," he started as he slammed his own door closed and turned on the heat. "be honest with me, are you homeless?" he asked a little less than gracefully. Connor didn't say anything, he didn't even look at him. Hank sighed and leaned back in his seat. He knew Connor had lived with CyberLife before, but he thought the deviants would help each other out, not just let Connor live on the street. It had been nearly two months, all that time that Connor had been "laying low" was just him wandering around in the cold, and helping Jericho when asked.

Hank started the car and started driving. Connor looked up now that he noticed they were moving. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"Home." said Hank.

Connor didn't question him, instead, he leaned his head against the window and watched the snow and lights until he fell asleep like a little kid on a long car ride. Hank pulled in and looked at the sleeping deviant in the passenger seat. Connor was proving to be more and more human by the minute, and Hank found it hard to believe that only a few days ago he hated him. He shook Connor's shoulder and woke him up. "Come on, kid. You don't need robot-frostbite." he said with a chuckle. Connor looked to his hands and then pressed a couple of fingers to the tip of his nose. "About that-" he said. Hank let out an "ugh" sound before unbuckling and climbing out of the car. Connor took a little longer since his hands were basically shutting down. His thirium was making its way to the coldest parts of his body, causing them to appear bluish, or purple if above a compromised bio-component. Basically, he looked like he a normal guy who had been in the snow too long, except bluer.

Hank went in first and Connor was slow to follow. Hank took off his shoes and hung up his coat while Connor just lingered nervously in the doorway. "You gonna come in or what?" said Hank, motioning for Connor to hang up his coat and remove his shoes while he grabbed himself a beer. Connor did as instructed, dropping his coat and swearing under his breath before managing to hang it up. Hank snorted at the silent swear Connor said and sipped at his beer. "I called Chris in the car while you were asleep, he's going to bring by some clothes for you to change into after you get warmed up." he said, gesturing towards the bathroom. Connor just cocked his head to the side in confusion. Hank rolled his eyes and sighed. "Go take a warm shower before you die in the doorway- not a hot shower though, I don't know how frostbite works in deviants but I don't want your hands to fall off." said Hank in his usual nonchalant tone.

"My skin just retracted in places that are shutting down-" Connor started. Hank nearly spit his beer. "You're _shutting down?!?"_ he said, coughing some beer out of his lungs as he spoke. "Yes, I thought that's why you were so concerned. A dead body in a public park would be unfortunate during the holiday-"

"Connor! I care because we're _family,_ I didn't know you were _dying_ _!_ _"_

"Oh... I see. I'm sorry, I thought I explained it... I- I will admit my thinking is- not clear at the moment, though." said Connor.

That's when Hank realized that Connor had just been trying to hide how bad he was. "Jeez, Connor." he mumbled. He could see Connors's red glowing heart beating through his shirt now. "Go get warmed up, and when Chris get here you can put on some warm clothes. Then we'll set up a Christmas tree or something." he said. Connor took a few seconds to process the words, blinking slowly a few times before nodding his head and making his way to the bathroom.

Connor closed the door behind him and turned on the water before turning to the mirror. His reflection was the reflection of a man who could only be compared to a train wreck. His nose had its skin back now, thanks to warming in Hank's car, but it was blushing blue along with his cheeks and the parts of his ears that actually skill had skin. All of the places that didn't have skin were paling blue just as bad, as the thirium was under the plastic. He even seemed to have bags under his eyes, which was part of his design to make him appear more human, but they just seemed more prominent as his skin was thinning out, thus making him paler. He even had tears frozen in his eyelashes since they didn't come out hot like human tears. His LED was stuck on a blood-red hue and his hair was a mess thanks to the fact that he basically lives in his beanie lately. He looked tired, tired in every way.

He sighed and gave his appearance a once over before pulling off his shirt, revealing the glow that was slightly dimmer now that he was in a warm building. He removed the rest of his clothes and sat them in the sink before climbing into the tub that doubled as a shower and closing the shower curtain in case someone came in, which they probably would with new clothes.

Connor had never had a shower before, unless you count getting sprayed down by CyberLife employees, of course. He kept an eye on his internal temperature as best as he could. It was glitching in and out in his vision, but he kept it pulled up anyway. He just needed to get his core temperature to at least 96.7, his system could warm itself after that. A knock at the door caught his attention, causing him to look away at the " **[#][5].[8] [D3GR &?] [F4@?EN*%!T]**" projected in his sight. A woman's voice called out from the other side of the door, something Connor had not expected at all.

"Connor? I'm Tamara, I'm Chris's wife. He's getting something from the garage with Hank, I have some clothes here for you, I'm going to set them on the sink, okay?" she called out. "Yes, that's fine, thank you." he called back. He hid behind the shower curtain and listened as the woman, Tamara, left the clothes on the sink as promised and left the room. He let out a relieved sigh he didn't know he had been holding, wondered why he was embarrassed by his bare body now, and then turned back to view the temperature of his body.

**[96].[#]**

"Useful." mumbled Connor as he waited for the last number to glitch back in. He waited for what felt like ever, even turning his skin off for a while to let the water hit his body directly, before finally reaching a decent temperature.

**[##].[8]**

He let out yet another relieved sigh before turning the water off and stepping out of the shower. He locked the door just in case, for some reason he was terrified at the possibility of someone he cared about seeing him skinless, despite that being who he truly was, and his _true_ appearance.

He found the towels and dried off before turning his skin back on and drying it, too. Drying his hair was his new least favorite thing to do.

He found the clothes on the sink and put them on, noticing that his own clothes were gone, most likely taken to be cleaned by Chris's wife. The clothes he was given were a long-sleeved red tee and a pair of dark grey sweat pants, and a pair of black socks, and of course some underwear, because what are we, animals? He smoothed his hair out the best he could with his slowly-rebooting hands and it was still pretty messy. Unsure of what to do with the towel he just folded it up and sat it on the sink. He felt oddly nervous and didn't want to leave the safety of the bathroom. He took a calming breath and closed his eyes before unlocking the door and peeking his head out shyly.

He was immediately met with a "Catch!" as Hank tossed a tube of glass ornaments at him. Connor, of course, caught it single-handedly, but then nearly dropped it and had to use his second hand to catch it again, pulling it close to his body, his LED flashing to red in panic. "Hank, my hands are still rebooting, I can barely feel anything, please don't toss breakable objects at me for a couple more hours at _least."_ said Connor, his LED settling back to yellow. "Oh- sorry, forgot about that." he said, helping Chris open a long box containing a 6 foot Christmas tree. "Are you still... ya know..." said Hank, making a weird motion with his Hand like that would help Connor to magically hear the rest of the sentence with Hank actually speaking it.

"Dying? I don't think so, but I'm not sure." said Connor.

"Well, damn. Don't beat around the bush or anything." said Hank.

Chris and Tamara both looked up to Hank and then to Connor.

"Wait, did Connor just say he's dying?" called Ben from the kitchen.

Connor exited the hallway to look into the kitchen where he saw Ben and the Captain both sitting at the table with a few pizzas and four six-packs that were apparently a suitable Christmas dinner for everyone.

"He said he's _maybe_ dying, not that he is, there's a difference." corrected Hank before he looked over to Connor. "He's not glowing anymore, I don't think." he added with a shrug before looking back to his friend.

Captain Fowler nearly choked on his beer and Chris and his wife looked both puzzled and concerned.

"I am, actually, but not as bad." he said with a shrug before looking to the tube of mix match ornaments that seemed to have no color scheme, nor did they seem to be the same set.

"You're- _glowing?_ " Chris asked for confirmation.

In response, Connor just lifted his shirt up to reveal the red beating glow of his heart, leaving the skin on this time as it was still visible and he was self-conscious about his machine-like qualities.

" _Woah-_ is that a heart?" asked Chris as Connor lowered his shirt. Connor looked a little surprised by the question. He didn't know how little people knew about android anatomy.

"Yes, androids have hearts. Our anatomy is made to mimic humans as closely as possible to make repairs easier." he said, fidgeting with his arm sleeve nervously.

"Can I ask a question? It's probably stupid, but I was wondering- why do androids breathe?" asked Ben from the kitchen. "I thought it was to make them less creepy, but that one chick in reception said that if they stop breathing they can die."

"We could die if we don't breathe, yes, but not for the same reasons." said Connor, a little confused by the sudden android anatomy lesson. "It keeps us from overheating. For most androids, they have a maximum heat they can reach before they begin to overheat, which acts as a fever. If they hit 105 degrees, they shut down. Prototypes can go past that because we're not finished models. If it's brought down in time, there's a small chance of survival but memory loss is guaranteed. If it's not brought down, we just keep going until we- well, spontaneously combust I guess."

"Wait, androids can get fevers?" asked Chris. Connor decided he should take a seat because this conversation looked like it may go on for a while.

"Yes, when we overheat it's the same as a fever. If our gyroscope is compromised, we can get dizzy. If we experience a sudden temperature change, we cough to expel the air that's too hot or cold. We have very human reactions to different situations, but it varies by model." said Connor.

Everyone seemed interested now.

"What all can you feel? Like, can you feel pain? I've seen androids react to injury as if they felt pain, but they say they don't." said Chris as he helped adjust some tree branches.

"Originally, we were programmed to react to injury so that humans would know we were damaged, or perhaps convince someone to stop hurting them, like a defensive mechanism. Some androids, or me I at least, developed the ability to actually _feel_ pain along with deviancy. I suspect it's a dormant program the CyberLife decided not to use that went online when the emotions did." said Connor with a shrug. "But I'm not sure. I know child androids have always been able to feel pain, as well as feel sickness to make them appear more realistic. As far I know, child androids and I are the only models that can feel temperature." he added.

"You mean the whole time you were outside, you could feel it?" asked Hank, also adjusting branches.

Connor let his gaze fall slightly. "Yes, unfortunately." he said, looking at his pale blue hands.

"Why didn't you stay with the other deviants? Don't they have a whole camp?" asked Tamara as she held little baby Damien on her lap.

"The deviants seem to hate me more than the humans do." he answered, the pain audible in his voice. Everyone seemed to silently look at him. He didn't like it, he didn't want their sympathy, he just wanted to hide from the world.

"Why don't they like you?" asked Fowler, joining the conversation a little late.

"Can you blame them?" he said, looking at Fowler from the couch. "They know me solely as the "Deviant Hunter", and even though they know I changed, they don't seem to really trust me... at all." he said.

"You mean they know as the "Deviant Hunter" and not as "the crazy guy who broke into CyberLife Tower and went James Bond on his evil twin before freeing thousands of his people"?" asked Hank.

"Yes, and I understand," said Connor, but when he realized the mood he added, "the other nickname is way to friggen long." and gave a small smirk.

This time it was Ben who nearly choked on his beer. Hank just smiled and rolled his eyes. Happy for the mood change, Connor was a lot less nervous. He was glad that the humans he was surrounded with accepted him as one of their own. Tamara even trusted him to hold her baby while she went to the restroom.

Connor let the baby play with his finger and gave him a small smile. "His name's Damien," said Chris, smiling at the sight of Connor playing with the baby on his lap. "he's four months old now." he added. Connor looked at Chris and then back to the baby. "I am too." he said and let out an honest-to-god chuckle, partially because of just how odd it was, and partially because he was embarrassed at how young he was compared to the rest of the adults in the room. "You're 4 months old?" he asked, unintentionally gathering the attention of everyone else in the room.

"Yes, I was activated August 15th." he said as Damian took his whole hand and hugged it. "No way, you and Damien have the same birthday!" said Chris with a small laugh and a huge smile. Connor looked to Chris with a small smile before looking back at Damien. "Well Damien, maybe someday you can help me figure out how birthdays work." he said gently to child. Damien just chewed on Connor's fingers in response, causing his skin to retract a little, which didn't bother the kid at all, although he did pull the fingers out of his mouth when his gums hit plastic. "Sorry, they do that on their own." he said to Damien with a giggle before recovering his hand with skin. It was the first time any of them had seen Connor so much as smile, let alone giggle, and the first time anyone aside from Hank had seen him express emotion at all.

It was very human, as if he had somehow become human. Not in the literal sense, but in the sense that he had humanity.

Tamara soon came back and took her baby to the bathroom to change and feed him, leaving Connor to hang out with the guys for a while. Chris got a phone call and stepped outside, leaving Hank to take care of the tree himself.

"Connor, help me with this damn thing, would ya'?" said Hank.

"...How?" asked Connor.

"You're kidding, right?" asked Hank.

Connor just tilted his head slightly causing Hank to groan in frustration. "Grab the ornaments and come here." he said. Connor did as instructed and stood on the other side of the tree that was sitting in the corner by the window.

"You take an ornament, and you hand it on a tree branch." said Hank, doing what he said as he spoke. "Like that, see?" he said. "You're turn." he held the tube out for Connor to grab the next ornament. Connor fumbled with it a bit before carefully attempting to hang it up. He lost his grip and tried to catch it, nearly knocking the tree over, and losing the ornament on the floor, causing it to break.

"Shit!" he hissed as he let out a frustrated sound. "I'm sorry, I still can't feel my hands." he said, looking moderately overwhelmed. The men in the kitchen looked surprised to hear the deviant cuss, nearly choking on their pizza, but Hank had come to accept that Connor must have been using this word for a while now since he used it so frequently and confidently, not like a middle schooler who nervously spits out the new words he learned just to sound cool.

"Hey, it's okay, it was an ugly ornament anyway." said Hank. "Try again, I'll help you." he said.

Connor flexed his hand a couple of times before shaking it out and grabbing a new ornament.

Connor's hands moved slowly, much slower than he wanted, and his frustration was clear. Hank kept his hand under the ornament just in case, and Connor carefully hooked the ornament to the tree branch and sighed in relief, backing his hands away and putting them in the air as if being arrested again. Hank did the same and they looked at the ornament and then at each other.

"I did it." said Connor, looking moderately shocked before smiling at Hank. They both looked back at the ornament just in time to see it fall and break on the floor. They both just stared at the pile of glass on the floor for a moment in a stunned shock, as did Ben and Fowler, who were watching from the area that the living room turned to kitchen.

"Oh come on- what the hell was that?" said Connor in disbelief, pointing at the ground. Fowler and Ben both started laughing at him and Hank's struggle. Hank and Connor both looked at them with annoyed expressions before looking back at each other. Hank was the first to let out a snort, which grew into a small laugh. That caused a small smile to creep onto Connor's face as he shook his head and let out a small laugh. Chris came in to find them all laughing, even Connor. "What did I miss?" he asked with a second-hand smile on his face. Connor was on the couch with his face in his hands. He removed one of the hands from his face just to point at the glass shards on the floor, which seemed to cause a second round or 4 am -I-haven't-slept-in-two-days" laughter from everyone. When Tamara left the bathroom and looked to Chris for answers, he just shrugged.

"Well, I was on the phone with Tina, I guess word got out about your Christmas party, Hank." said Chris when the laughter calmed down.

"Wait- _that's_ what this is?" asked Connor in genuine surprise. He didn't mean to cause everyone to laugh again.

"Yes Connor, Merry Christmas." laughed Hank.

"Well, Tina said she'll bring her famous brownies-" Chris was cut off by immediate "Yes!'s" from everyone.

"-But, she promised Gavin he wouldn't have to spend Christmas alone this year, so he'd come to." he continued. Before anyone could say anything else he added. "She already warned him that Connor is here, and that if he says or does anything, she'll shoot him herself. They're bringing Officer Lee if they come, too, and I hear Lee makes great cookies, so, you guys figure it out among yourselves, and let me know what you decide, and I'll text Chen." he said, his hands up defensively.

Everyone immediately looked to Connor. Connor looked back at them all, eyebrows raised in confusion.

"...what?" he asked, clearly confused.

"It's up to you, kid. You and Gavin do have a history." said Hank.

"Oh, I don't mind. If he does try anything, we all know who won the last fight." said Connor, not afraid to fight Gavin again if it came to it. Hank snorted. "Well, you heard the man. Tell Tina to keep him on his best behavior or Connor will kick his ass again." he said with a proud tone to his voice. Chris was already calling her. "They're on their way." said Chris, ending the call. "Apparently they're only like, five minutes away. Tina said she "knows no man can say no" to her brownies, and has been on her way this whole time." said Chris.

"Of course she has." said Hank. "Alright Connor, think you can hang up an ornament now?"

"If I can't hang up at least one before this night's over I will lose my mind." said Connor very matter of factly before grabbing a box of more ugly ornaments and sitting them close to the tree on the coffee table. Hank let out a chuckle and grabbed the tube of dollar store ornaments from before and stood beside Connor, who had Chris standing beside him.

Tina Chen, Song Lee, and Gavin Reed all walked in just time to Connor drop an ornament and scream "Dammit!" that was part swear, part groan of frustration.

"Ah, there he is." said Gavin. "Thanks for the concussion." he said sarcastically.

"You're welcome." snapped Connor sassily as he looked down at his glass pile in disappointment.

"I honestly want him to keep dropping them, it's kind of funny." said Chris to the people who just walked in as he took their food to take to the kitchen while they took off their coats.

"How is this amusing, look how much glass there is!" said Connor stepping out of the way and pointing to the shard pile under the tree. "This holiday is hazardous."

"Well, the holiday usually involves less glass shards." said Ben.

Connor just huffed and shook out his hands again.

"Shouldn't you have your feeling back by now?" asked Hank.

"Yes, I don't understand why they would still be like this. They were getting better, but now they seem to be getting worse. Something may be damaged, I'm not sure though, my diagnostic program hasn't been working all day." said Connor, grabbing another ornament and dropping it back into the box before it had a chance to hover above the floor. Thankfully it didn't break. He sighed angrily and threw his numb hands up in defeat. "That's it, I give up." he said.

"What happened?" asked Tina while Gavin just brooded in the corner.

"The easiest way to explain it would be to compare it frostbite. I nearly froze to death, but I should be fine by now." Connor explained.

"How's the glowy thingy?" asked Ben.

"Glowy thingy?" quoted Gavin as he hung up his coat.

Connor removed the skin from his hands entirely, revealing the plain white hands, no trace of a red glow in sight. Just to double-check, he forced it to glow, only to see its original healthy beautiful blue glow had returned. "It looks fine now." he said, letting the light fade out entirely before returning his skin back to his hands. "Maybe I just suck at decorating Christmas trees." he suggested, gaining a couple of laughs.

"Just keep trying, I guess. They're ugly for a reason: so I don't get upset when they break. I usually decorate drunk." said Hank. "Fair enough." said Connor, grabbing another ornament and turning towards the tree, immediately dropping it before even making a move to hang it. He let his arms fall to his side and stared at the pile. Hank handed him a new ornament and pat him on the shoulder. "You keep trying, we're going to go eat our way into diabetic comas." he said before he led the humans to the kitchen. Connor focused on the ornament in his hands and then found a suitable branch. He slowly brought it towards the branch and hooked it on, and then slowly pulled away. Tina was in the doorway to the kitchen with Lee. "Yay! You did it!" she cheered. Connor looked back at her and smiled.

"Oh- Con it's falling!" she exclaimed. Connor grabbed it with his lightning reflexes but, thanks to his hand being numb, he crushed it in his hand. He let out a small yelp of pain, which Sumo seemed to whine at.

Tina sat her beer on the coffee table and grabbed Connor's hand. Some of the skin was cut, and none of it had time to retract before he acted, meaning his hand still had all of its skin, but was cut up, and even had a couple of shards of the bulb in it. "Ow, that looks painful." she said, examining it. "It is." he said. Tina hadn't been there for the previous conversation, so she was a little surprised to learn he could feel pain now. "Well, that's gonna make this hard clean up." she said. "Do you bandage the same? Or is there a special android first aid protocol." she asked. "I only need bandages and to stop the bleeding. No special antibiotics like a human would, and the type of bandaging doesn't matter." he said, pulling his hand out of hers and scanning the two shards. He grabbed one piece and pulled it out quickly with a hiss and dropped it into the pile with the others. He was thankful that Sumo knew not to bother the glass, he was surprisingly smart. Connor liked dogs.

He grabbed the other piece and pulled it out, careful to move with its direction and shape to avoid further injury just as he had done with the first piece. He let out a small pained sound that was quiet enough that the others remained oblivious in the kitchen, entertaining the dog that was begging for food. Tina guided Connor to the bathroom to clean up, leaving a pretty bad trail of thirium on the floor. Connor turned on the water and rinsed his skin off before removing it from the hand altogether and wiping it off with a slightly wet rag to avoid getting water in the wounds. He really didn't want to be electrocuted right now. Tina had already raided all the cabinets to find a first aid kit, eventually finding it under the sink in plain sight. "Am I interrupting something or can I use the bathroom-" said Gavin, stopping when he saw the thirium puddle in the floor and Tina rummaging throw the first aid kit. Connor sighed. "It's still bleeding." he mumbled. Gavin grabbed a dry rag and pressed it to Connor's hand, causing him to grunt in pain. "Woah- since when do you do _that?"_ asked Gavin, seeing the reaction. "Apparently CyberLife wants to punish me for having emotions." answered Connor, pressing the rag to his hand himself. "Found it!" exclaimed Tina, pulling out some bandages. Gavin sighed. "I'll wait." he grumbled as he trudged his way outside.

"I'm sorry." said Connor as he let Tina bandage the skinless hand for him. "For what?" she asked. "This." he said, nodding to the hand. "Thank you, though." he added. He had never spoken to the girl aside from a couple of times she had come to give him an update on his case at the station. "No problem, Con." she said. Connor smirked at the new nickname, he had never had one before. "You have really pretty hands." she said randomly as she taped the bandage to itself to secure it. "I think androids look pretty cool in general, though." she added. "Thanks, I think?" he said as she inspected his bandage, probably as an excuse to look at how cool his hands looked without skin. "You're welcome." she said.

"Do I want to know why there's a giant trail of blue blood on my floor?" asked Hank as he looked into the bathroom.

"Reflexes don't work well when you can't tell how tight you're grabbing something." said Connor. "I felt the injury though, so that's something." he said, turning to look at Hank now.

Hank looked down at Connor's shirt and shook his head and sighed. "At least you're other shirts clean and dry now." he said. Connor looked down at his shirt. "Oh, I'm sorry." he said, looking at the thirium stains. "It will evaporate in a couple of hours."

"You're gonna be the death of me, kid." said Hank. "Are you okay?" he asked, a little more seriously.

"Yes, I'm okay." he confirmed.

Tina gave him a hardy pat on the back. "I fixed him up, but it took forever to find your bandages." she said.

Hank scoffed and led them all out of the bathroom. "He's not dead!" Hank called out to the kitchen for the drunken cops to hear. "Finally." said Gavin as he got up to use the bathroom, taking his beer with him. Hank led Connor to the garage to get Connor's shirt from the dryer. "Here, put this on and try not to get hurt again." he said. Connor changed back into the grey, short-sleeved tee and Hank put the red shirt in the washer despite the fact that the thirium would evaporate. The fact that Connor would still be able to see it made him uncomfortable.

"So, how are you doing?" Hank asked.

"I'm fine." he said. "It's not that bad."

"Not that." said Hank, crossing his arms like a father questioning his son about why they were out all night. "Are you okay? Because you definitely weren't earlier." he said. "I want to check because they're talking about their worst cases in there. When I didn't see you in the living-room anymore I thought you ditched."

"Oh..." Connor let his gaze fall. "yes, I'm okay right now." he said.

"Okay, then let's go tell them drunks to talk about something happier." said Hank. "and if you need to, you can come out here anytime."

"Thank you." said Connor. "and Hank?"

Hank turned around, knowing by the tone of his voice that it was important. "Yeah?"

"I-" Connor paused for a moment. "I was going to die out there," he said, letting his gaze fall to the floor again. "and I knew that. I was-" he searched for the right word. "I was- _determined_ to die out there, one way or another, and- I don't know. I just thought I should let you know that you saved my life in more than one way tonight. So, thank you." he said, raising his teary gaze to meet Hanks.

Hank pulled Connor into a hug, wrapping him up tightly. "If you _ever_ feel like that again, you let me know, okay? We're family, kid. You always have a home here, and you always have someone to talk to."

Connor nodded and pulled away to wipe his face. "Thank you."

"Of course, kid." said Hank. "You ready to go in?"

Connor nodded his head. Hank wrapped an arm around him and guided him inside and only removed his arm when they reached the end of the hallway.

"Okay guys, less depressing topics, alright?" he said as they both took seats on the couch. The others brought their chairs from the kitchen into the living room. "We're talking about battle scars now." said Tina with a playful smile. "You got any?"

"I'm a 53-year-old cop, what do you think?" he said sarcastically.

Hank began pointing to various places he had been shot, stabbed, or had surgery.

Fowler had a slightly less extensive list, but only because he hadn't had to have and surgeries aside from ones pertaining to his injuries.

Gavin explained his various scars, including the on his nose from his father, although he made light of the situation in his own way.

Tina only had one scar from surgery when she was younger, Song had a prosthetic leg from a car accident, and Chris had two scars, each from being stabbed.

"What about you, Connor? Do androids scar?" asked Chris.

"Yes, sort of. If the plastic layer under our skin is damaged and heals or is repaired incorrectly it causes an irregularity, and will be slightly visible through the skin projection." said Connor.

"Well, how many battle scars do you have then, RoboCop?" asked Gavin.

Connor hesitated for a moment before lifting up the short sleeve of his tee-shirt, revealing his shoulder, which looked like a chunk of it was missing from a bullet. "I was shot on my first case." he said, not saying much else, just pulling his sleeve down. "Not to mention the few bullets and _bomb_ during the Jericho raid." he added, hoping they'd ask about that and not his first mission.

"Wait you were on it when it blew up?" asked Tina.

"No, not quite. I jumped off as it blew up, I was the last of our group to jump because I was the only one armed. I had to hold off the soldiers. North was shot, Markus had basically carried her to the exit, Simon and Josh were waiting there already. I just held them off until someone screamed that it was about to blow up, and then I knew if I turned around I'd be shot, since most of the soldiers were shooting on sight instead of capturing us like they were ordered to, so I had to move backward and keep shooting for as long as I could before running and hoping I was fast enough. The bomb went off right after I jumped and I could feel the blast wave, then I felt burning, and then I was in the river." said Connor. Everyone was leaning forward in their seats to listen to the story.

"Did it burn you?" asked Chris. Connor thought for a second. "No, it hurt for a couple of weeks, that's how I learned I could feel pain, but it didn't leave a mark. I had a leather coat on, as well as multiple layers, so unless the heat managed to warp my plastic base layer, I shouldn't have a mark, I do have debris scars though." he said.

"Well, Connor wins when it comes to who has the coolest scar story." said Tina. No one denied it.

Chris and Tamara had to leave with Damien, who was getting cranky, which left Connor to care for six drunk cops.

"Well, now that everyone that can be drunk is drunk or is getting drunk, I say we all blackout while watching lame Christmas movies." said Ben.

"They make Christmas... _movies?_ " asked Connor.

Gavin was already grabbing blankets, beer, and pizza (they didn't have popcorn) and was bringing it all into the living room. "Movie night!" he exclaimed happily. He passed out blankets to everyone, even Connor, before he tossed the largest throw to Lee and Chen, and instead of covering up with it, they built a blanket fort using some of the kitchen chairs, which they begged Connor to come see while Hank and a tipsy Fowler finished decorating the tree. Connor crawled into the small fort with his own blanket wrapped around his shoulders and his LED immediately lit up the interior. "You'd make a good lamp if you were brighter." said Song as she admired the blue light. Gavin crawled in now, immediately noticing the glow from Connor and let out a drunken, childlike giggle. "He's a flashlight." he said. Connor couldn't help his own chuckle at tipsy-Gavin's attempts at humor. "Oh, oh! Do the hand thing!" said Tina, and Connor immediately knew what she meant. He retracted all the skin on his arms all the way up to his shoulders and then let them glow in the joints, palm, and even let the right armband glow- the one that was part of androids for if their uniforms didn't have a physical one.

The whole (very small) blanket fort was glowing a pale blue. "Your hands look like an arthritis commercial but more aesthetically pleasing." said Gavin. Tina was about to hit Gavin until she heard Connor laugh at the joke. The way his joints glowed really did look like the way they demonstrated pain in a commercial for medicine, except blue. "I didn't know your arms could glow, too." said Officer Lee.

"Yes, all of my joints can glow, along with random areas that CyberLife thought would make androids more aesthetically pleasing, but the only things that constantly glow are my LED and my heart." he said.

"Ooo, you're heart glows?" asked Gavin. Now Connor _knew_ the man was drunk, there was no way he would talk to Connor otherwise.

"Yes, the glow makes it easier if I were to go to repairs. It provides a light source, and can glow red to indicate injury, helping to inform the person doing repairs that I am still in need of help." he said. They all seemed genuinely intrigued, and out of it.

"Am I going to be the _only_ sober one here?" he asked. They all three nodded. Connor sighed and shook his head.

"We should sleep in the blanket fort." said Tina.

"All four of us?" asked Connor. Tina gave him an over-exaggerated nod. Connor sighed.

"Don't puke on me." he said.

"Deal." said Tina, shaking his glowing non-bandaged hand.

Before anything else could be said, Hank called out to them from outside the fort.

"Hey, we finished the tree! Come look!" he said.

Gavin crawled out first, followed by Connor, and Tina, and Lee.

The sight was a horrendous mess. The very few bulbs on the tree were hideous and didn't match, the garland looked like it was balding, there was a tee shirt for a Christmas skirt, and somehow all the lights were lit except the ones in the very center. Hank handed Connor an empty beer bottle and motioned to the tree. "Would you do the honors or putting the topper on the tree?" he asked. Connor looked at the beer bottle in his hand and then back to the tree before failing to suppress a laugh. He stepped over a pile of glass that still hadn't been swept up and slid the very top branch into the beer bottle. Tina took pictures on her phone before recording, possibly on accident, as Hank told Connor not to let go of the bottle yet. Hank walked over with a roll of duct tape and taped the mouth and neck of the bottle to the tree so it wouldn't fall off. Instead of falling off, the top branch leaned to the side a little. Connor stepped back to look at it and laughed. It was horrible, and somehow to him, it was more beautiful than the tree in the park.

"What do you think?" asked Hank as he rested an arm on Connor's shoulder.

"I love it." said Connor with a stupid grin. "-but it looks like shit." he said before laughing again.

Everyone was laughing at their dumb little tree, but everyone was happy nonetheless.

***

Connor fell asleep in the blanket fort, fully skinless and glowing thanks to his friends convincing him that he was beautiful without skin. He had Sumo laying to his side and he had Gavin using his torso as a pillow, and Tina as a leg rest. Lee curled up in fetal position in the corner. They had lifted one of the "walls" so that they could watch the original Grinch movie, to which Connor was the last to fall asleep as he was very moved by the Grinch, a man who was an outcast, and his last-minute change of heart and development of feelings. He understood how it felt to finally feel love, he thought it felt something like this. Hank had fallen asleep sitting up on the couch. He had been watching the movie but started watching as Connor slowly seemed to be more and more enthralled by the plot. Hank smirked to himself at the sight of the man who was oddly interested in a children's movie before drifting off to sleep. Fowler had fallen asleep in the recliner, and Ben fell asleep on the other end of the couch.

It was a roller-coaster, but Connor enjoyed his first Christmas.


End file.
